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Alisa Karstark
Alisa Karstark is a character in Book 1 and 2. She is the thirdborn daughter and fifthborn child of Lord Brogar Karstark, although she abandoned her family long ago, to escape from a marriage she did not want. She joined the Second Sons and eventually became assigned to accompany the pirate Edward Anturion and to help him in his schemes. Backstory Born in Karhold as the thirdborn daughter and fifthborn child of Brogar Karstark, Alisa never had an easy live. Always seen as unassuming and equally unimportant, it was generally agreed upon that her lot in life would be getting married off to another noble house, a fate she dreaded. She herself always saw herself as a fighter, even picking up a sword and training with her brothers. During these moments, she was particularly close to her youngest brother, Rohar. Her life changed when her father indeed found a match for her. Waylar Manderly, a decade her senior and freshly widowed, was seeking for a new wife and Brogar wanted to take the chance to improve relations to the wealthy House Manderly. Of course, Alisa objected, but her father, always cold and distant towards her, made it very clear that he is not willing to discuss this matter in any way, leaving Alisa no choice but to run away from home. However, as she went to leave Karhold for good, Rohar tried to stop her. Fearful what her father would do when he would catch her, Alisa tried to talk him down, to no avail. The two struggled and accidentally and not thinking straight, Alisa hit her brother with a rock, heavily so, causing him to fall, hitting his head and dying from the injury. Noticing that Rohar wasn't breathing anymore, Alisa panicked and left Karhold for good. To this day, he remains the only kill she truly regrets. After killing her brother, Alisa fled Karhold and the North, taking a ship from White Harbour to Essos, where she quickly realized that a woman without any friends could only gain status by one of two ways in the Free Cities, becoming a whore or becoming a sellsword. Not desiring the former fate, she made herself a name as a fighter, using tricks she picked up at Karhold to surprise those that belittled her for being a woman. Eventually, she gained the interest of Rodrik Stone, a sellsword captain of the Second Sons, who was on his way to quickly rise through the ranks. After a costly battle, the Sons were in dire need of new recruits, so Rodrik was even willing to give women a chance and he ended up being impressed by Alisa's obedience and ferocity. Realizing the chance she was given, she took his offer and as Rodrik rose through the ranks, so did Alisa. Alongside Rodrik and her companions, most of whom she had similarly won over by now, Alisa was sent to Westeros a few years later, to assist Edward Anturion during his plans. Due to trusting her so much, Rodrik sent Alisa to directly guard Edward, alongside her companion Carvin Granver. Book 1 Butterfly Alisa is first introduced alongside Carvin and Edward, the latter of whom she guards, when they stumble upon the fleeing Alys Boleyn, who is being chased by Harlan Hoare, Torvin Breaker, Hjalgar Holgarsson and Gabin Strad. It is her who scares Alys the most, as House Boleyn is sworn to Alisa's family, meaning she is the only one who, at this point, could blow her cover. While Alys indeed reveals her identity out of fear, it is Alisa who confirms it. In return, she surprisingly learns that Alys is supposed to marry her young cousin, Dante. The revelation of Alys' true heritage prompts Edward to, surprisingly, come to her aid, to protect her from Harlan and his men. She stands by his side when the prince confronts them and after the situation has calmed down, she accompanies Edward to Harrenhal. The Iron Price After arriving in Harrenhal, Alisa is present during the meeting between Edward and Harren Hoare, though like any good bodyguard, she remains quiet and in the background. Previously though, she displays a bit of a concern for Alys, whom she warns not to appear too weak in front of Harren Hoare, fearing that the king could see her as easy prey otherwise and therefore basically giving her the same advice she learned during her stay in Essos. To hear surprise and shock, Harren is well informed of her past, openly addressing her as a kinslayer and taunting her for it. When she speaks to defend herself, he threatens to kill her if she opens her mouth in his presence again, effectively ending her involvement in the negotiations. She is sullen afterwards, remembering the brother she murdered and not even an apology by Harren's son Harrick, in the king's name, can do anything to cheer her up. The next day, Alisa meets up with Alys in the courtyard and the two bond over their shared backgrounds. During this occasion, Alisa expresses sympathy for Alys' desire to be free and they talk about Dante and the homes they have lost. When the talk drifts to the subject of Rohar though, Alisa becomes more distant again and is quick to end their discussion, by leading Alys to her meeting with Edward. Masquerade Alisa accompanies Edward, Carvin and Alys, together with a group of Ironborn led by Alynne Hollard, to meet with the newest member of Edward's growing army, the bandit leader Bear. Having heard of him before, Alisa is the first to openly express reluctance to actually meet him, as she informs Alys of him. Nonetheless, she is chosen to accompany Edward and Alynne to a direct meeting with the bandit, something that clearly terrifies her. Valar Morghulis While Alisa is not seen in this chapter, she is mentioned to accompany Edward and his group, alongside Torvin Breaker and Clint Volmark, to Raylansfair, where her master wishes to pursue the next step of his plan. What Is Dead May Never Die Alongside Edward, Alisa naturally participates in the Raid on Raylansfair, though not as an active combatant, but to protect Edward while he makes his way to the archives. It is here that her distrust of Edward first breaks through, when she expressed concern for Alys' well-being even above Edwards. When her leader sends one of the Ironborn to their death at the archive without any necessity and out of pure spite, she even shows anger, though does not voice it openly. Eventually, Alys is chosen to donate some of her blood to Edward's protective spell, due to her being a pureblooded Northerner. She does so, if reluctantly, allowing Edward to enter the archive. Throughout this, Alisa is shocked and concerned for Alys' well-being, especially after the spell is shown to weaken her. Grateful that she doesn't have to suffer its consequences, she looks out for Alys from there on. Eventually, Alisa becomes forced to participate in the spell as well though, when it turns out that Alys' blood wasn't even nearly as pure as expected. When the spell grows weaker and vicious illusions started to attack the Ironborn, Edward himself is at risk and he ends up ordering Alisa to cut her palm, to give him more of her blood. She does so without hesitating, showing some loyalty still remaining. After this incident, Alisa is ordered to bring Alys out of the archive alongside Carvin, while Edward continues on his own, an order she followes all too readily. On their way back though, Carvin and Alys are attacked by one of the spells, to which Alisa steps in to defend them, relying on their calls to attack it where they see it. This goes to no avail, as the illusion eventually comes to consider Alisa a danger as well, attacking her despite being a Northerner. She manages to buy her companions some time, before fleeing with them. While Carvin stays behind to wait for Edward, Alisa carries an unconscious Alys back to their ship. Valar Dohaeris After the failure that is the raid and the loss of Edward's artifact, Alisa is part of the group that makes their way out of Raylansfair by boat. Having saved Alys during the raid, she spends the next days with the recovering girl, further showing that she has grown to care a lot for her, even consider her a friend. She stays by her side throughout the entire chapter, comforting her and supporting her during her later meeting with Edward. Book 2 Fires Far Alisa accompanies Edward, Carvin, Alys and the remaining Ironborn and Second Sons, now supported by Bear's bandits, to Merman's Rest, where Edward wishes to negotiate with his king, Aeron Blacksails. Having grown wary and disillusioned with Edward over the course of the last few months after his treatment of Alys following the Raid on Raylansfair, she has become more reluctant to follow him. As such, after the groups arrival at Merman's Rest, she takes Alys aside, distracting Edward by feigning interest to a prostitute and using this break to give Alys a warning of her own boss. However, she still stays by his side while facing the pirate council, where she surprisingly gets along with Gregor Harlaw, one of the captains most critical of Edward's schemes. Appearance Alisa is a young woman in her late twenties, with the pale skin and dark hair of a Northerner. Looking harsh and scarred from her dangerous life as a sellsword, Alisa is not a beauty and mostly seen as relatively plain, wearing her brown hair tied to a very short ponytail and having stern, grey eyes. She rarely shows much emotion and is usually just looking cold and calm. Clad in leather, she has a short, dark cape and two long daggers as her weapon of choice. Personality At first glance, Alisa seems little different from a sellsword grunt, with the exception of her gender of course. She is a professional, cold and efficient, capable of acting ruthless if necessary and doing any job with ease, rarely showing moral conflict in the process. Thanks to her capable mindset, she is highly regarded by her superiors and respected by her comrades. However, there is more to her than seen at first. Alisa actually has morals and deep thoughts about the actions she commits. Loyal to a fault, this also extends to friends and she occasionally finds herself at odds between those she likes and those she works for. In particular, she has a caring streak, as seen by her interaction with Alys. She has a hard time finding friends though and is not known for being easy to get along with. Not particularly attracted to men or women, Alisa is asexual and quite probably not even interested in any sort of romantic encounters, which only furthers the impression of being cold and unapproachable. Relationships Brogar Karstark Alisa and her father have a very cold relationship and always had. Unwilling to bow to Brogar's ideas for her future, Alisa was always rebellious and a thorn in his side. This culminated with her trying to run away when he betrothed her to another lord against her will. As she did so, she accidentally killed her brother Rohar, who tried to stop her. It can be guessed that this act permanently tarnished what little love Brogar still had for his child and nowadays, he prefers to pretend that she doesn't exist. Rohar Karstark While it is mentioned that Alisa has been distant to most of her siblings, this is not the case for Rohar, her youngest brother. With him, Alisa had a very close relationship and he was by far her favourite sibling. This makes it all the more tragic when she gained notoriety in the North for killing him while escaping from Karhold. He remains notably the only kill she openly expresses regret for. Edward Anturion Though she is technically sworn to him, there is little love between Alisa and Edward, or at least from Alisa's side. Edward trusts her and he knows that despite her personal opinion on him, she is loyal because he pays her. However, Alisa has a really low opinion on the scheming Edward, considering him cowardly and ruthless. Her interaction with Alys Boleyn also further lowers her views on him, as she severely disagrees with his treatment of the young woman. Carvin Granver Between Alisa and her companion Carvin, there is a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Understanding each other's situation in employ of Edward the best, they know that they can count on each other for support, in battle and outside of it. That being said, their relationship doesn't seem to have quite reached friendship, as they keep a professional distance to each other most of the time, not above snide remarks, especially from Carvin's side. Alys Boleyn Alys is one of the few people that remember Alisa and know what she did. As such, both are reluctant to get to know each other at first and quite awkward when having to interact. However, slowly Alys realizes that Alisa is not so different from her, a feeling that is mutual. She begins to care for the younger woman, eventually seeing her as a bit of a younger sister, a wholly new feeling for her, given that she has always been the youngest in the family. Alys in return comes to trust and like Alisa a great deal, eventually outright naming her a friend. Rodrik Stone It might come as a surprise, but Rodrik and Alisa actually got along quite well. They never interacted in the story itself, but Rodrik, otherwise known as foul-mouthed and a bit of a sexist, speaks highly of her on several occasions. Alisa in return owes him a lot, as it has been him who gave her the life she enjoys at the time. As such, she is among the few people with a positive opinion on Rodrik, perhaps even one of the few whom he would consider a friend. Appearances Category:Characters Category:Book 1 Characters Category:Book 2 Characters Category:House Karstark Category:Second Sons Category:Northerners Category:Highborn Category:Sellswords